Laziness

I saw someone I very much respect say, the other day, that all humans are lazy. I, honestly, don’t think anybody is born lazy. Brain-chemistry issues like depression and ADHD aside, I think most people just keep trying to force themselves into doing work they don’t enjoy, and their minds resist.

My dad was lucky enough to find work he loved doing (brick laying and carpentry), and he never hesitated. Ask him to clean up around the house, however, and he seems incredibly lazy. (Given the state of my room, I can say for certain even if I was physically capable of doing a lot of cleanup, I’d be the exact same way.)

For me, this is most recently noticeable in my writing and art. When I’m able to relax and just work on my writing or art, I push my muscles and mind to the limit. I don’t look for the easy way out like I do with other work, or the quick way, but I work and work and work until I can’t anymore. I have to fight distraction, I get more easily distracted than a hyper dog, but for my writing and art I do so.

Earlier this year, I started to lose the joy of writing, as I tried too hard to be good. I focused so much on the skills, the character archetypes and the five senses and everything, that I lost the part of writing I enjoy most: blind creation. Losing that, I haven’t been able to bring myself to finish one story since January.

The following video made me realize that I need to find the joy in my work again. What I learned about story structure and character depth will start coming out in my work as I gain practice. I don’t need to force it.

Of course, the real world economy means that sometimes you do have to do things you don’t enjoy, for the money. That’s just unavoidable, which is why everybody seems to be lazy on the surface. I do, however, think that far too many people take it too far, focusing on getting rich instead of enjoying their lives. We only have one life, we should always at least be striving to spend it doing things we enjoy.